44 THE. TE.NNI5 caul\. T 5 LONDON, JULY 1U A HOMEL Y, dark-skinned girl in a black hat with a smart white feather on one side, a hat that could have been manufactured only in the city of Paris, sat in the committee box at Wimbledon and watched the finals between Mrs. Moody and Helen Jacobs, the two best women players in the world. And what a contest she saw-what lack of variety, what want " f2;? /\1 , ;1 I / of enterprise! It was the tennis of mediocrity: drive and chop, drive and chop, forever and ever, world without end. Each was out for safety, taking no chances. I t was tedious tennis, tire- some to watch and, I should imagine, more so to play. If this is blasphemy, I cannot help it, for during this match my mind went back to that homely girl upon a tennis court, to the sparkle and lift of her game, to the infinite range of her stroke production, the genius of her technique, the shots that brought your heart to your mouth as you Lenglen and the Lady Robots -A French1nan Goes Fishing watched Suzanne Leni?;len in action. Possihly it is un just to demand genius from ordinary mortals, but is it unfair to ask for just a little brilliancy and imagination in champions? Especially in a champion of champions? H OWEVER, if the lady whom French umpires persist in calling "Madame Moodivills" was not as im- pressive as in former years,. Ellsworth Vines gave a most convincing display. From the start of the fortnight, he im- proved in every round and by the end was at the peak of his game. To win at Wimbledon on his first attempt, with the loss of only two sets, is testimony to his power, for the field was the strong- est I have ever seen. The English won no titles on their own courts, but they electrified their countrymen by reaching the finals of hoth singles and douhles. \'Then Bun- ny Austin polished off Jiro Satoh and thus became the first Englishman in twenty years to enter the finals, Lon- don positively rocked on its founda- tions. In fact, the whole country turned from its contemplation of serious mat- ters such as Y 0- Yo, greyhound-racing, and cricket, and rushed off to queue up for the match the next day. >\las, they were un rewarded, for Vines showed Bunny to be a rabbit by blow- ing him off the court in fifty minutes. The Californian can rarely have played better than he did that afternoon, and seldom as well. Yet at present, despite his victory, the Davis Cup is an open thing. It is difficult to see how either Germany or Italy, who are meeting this week in the final round of European zone competi- tion, can hope to beat the United States, but hefore Sunday's debacle in Berlin nohody doubted that it would be the English who would contest our right to meet France. On the assump- tion the Americans do win, as they certainly should, I think that the result of the challenge round at Roland-Garros depends almost entirely on how the two sides are handled the rest of this month. The Americans, as usual, dashed from the Wimbledon courts to various arenas in Holland, Ireland, and France. vVhile the French-well, I think the holders of the Cup will be ready when July 29 rolls around. C--! '- :::> C aCHET lost at Wimbledon for the same reason that Frank Shields, Wilmer Allison, and John Van R yn lost: insufficient practice on grass. His defeat means nothing. Nevertheless, the little Frenchman is getting jumpy, a sure sign that the end of his reign is in sight. He is spending the time between the end of vVimbledon and the start of the Challenge Round at a château in the Landes with friends, and there he is hunting and fishing all day with never a thought of tennis. He will arrive in Paris for only two or three days' practice' before the opening match. Will he be as good as ever? I very much fear that he will, and that Ellsworth Vines has his work cut out for him. Jean Borotra, a spent force in sin- gles, showed his old form in pulling Brugnon through the doubles In Lon- don and may well find a place on the French side again. Lacoste? Lacoste will play, but just how good he will be no one, not even Lacoste, knows. He is practicing with Martin Plaa each afternoon, and spends an hour every night knocking a ball against the wall of his bedroom in his new apartment on the Boulevard Suchet. I under- (-- Ä ' cJ 1 )))l - n / --" stand the neighbors have complained. Being Latins, they are un willing to make any personal sacrifices for na- tional triumphs in sport. They prefer to lose the Davis Cup rather than their own sleep. T HE American team will certainly consist of Vines in singles and >\llison and Van Ryn in doubles, al- though this pair, like Cochet and Mrs. Moody, seemed to have lost their bril- liant game of other years. The second singles is open to anyone. Shields was indifferent on grass in London. -JOHN R. TUNIS